In the field of musical performance, constant practice is necessary regardless of whether one is a solo performer that needs to practice a performance that will be accompanied by a number of other musical artists, or one is a conductor who will need to conduct numerous musical artists in a performance. A problem arises, however, when the musical piece that one is practicing requires the participation of a number of different musical artists to be practiced properly. For example, a human conductor may need to practice instructing a group of human musicians in their performance of a particular piece. The conductor may not be able to assemble a sufficient number of musicians to allow him or her to practice conducting, and while the conductor may conduct along with the prerecorded piece, this is not optimal since variations in the conductor's movements will not be reflected in the performance of the piece. Similarly, during a live performance, if there is an insufficient number of musicians to play all of the parts in the musical score, a conductor may need to conduct both human musicians and a musical apparatus capable of playing the missing parts.
The conductor may employ a number of electronic instruments controlled by an automated system that is capable of tracking and following musical scores, such as the system disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 08/878,638, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. However, the conductor still requires a device which allows the motion of the baton to control the performance of the musical piece by both the automated system and human musicians, if any.
In the traditional manner of conducting a musical ensemble, a conductor waves a stick, known as a baton, in the air. Traditionally, the direction of motion, including the change of direction, communicates tempo and beat information to human musicians who are being directed. Additionally, the amplitude of the conducting motions are traditionally used to communicate information as to how loud to play. A conductor typically communicates the incident of a musical beat by suddenly changing direction in an area roughly in the center of his/her body. Such a sudden change of direction is known as an ictus.